Hinged last.



E. G. WRIGHT.

HINGBD LA 'APPLIUATION FILED 2, 1913.

1,100,276. Patented June 16, 191

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELLERY C. WRIGHT, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

HINGED LAST To all whom it may cancer 12.;

Be it known that I, ELLERY C. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Brockton, county of Plymouth, State of Massacl'iusetts, have invented an Improvement in Hinged Lasts, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

In the manufacture of shoes by the aid of hinged lasts, it is very essential that the last shall be excedingly strong at the joint, in order to endure the leveling pressures and other strains brought 'upon the last, especially when it is bottom side up. This problem has proved so difficult that its proper solution has been the aim of a great many inventors ever since the advent of the hinged last.

My invention aims to solve this problem in connection with the type of last popularly known as the two-piece hinged last, and the E. C. W. bolt construction (the latter construction being explained and shown in Patents Nos. 605,768, June 14:, 1898, and 642,945, February 6, 1900).

By my construction I secure a maximum of strength with a minimum of weakness of the wood and a minimum of weight. Besides the points just mentioned above, the latter point of having a last as light as possible is very important, in view of the fact that the shoes with the lasts in them are put through many operations in which the shoes are supported manually against the machines, and are also trundled around lying on shoe racks where the shoes are apt to be scarred if the lasts therein are heavy.

The details of my invention will be more fully apprehended from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown one embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows my last in side elevation, parts being broken away for clearness of illustration; and Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

The forepart 1 and heel part 2 are provided respectively with a knuckle 3 fitting into a socket 4, which two parts are provided respectively with a kerf 5, extending back to the thimble hole 6. Instead of having the usual heavy plate hinge secured by a plurality of rivets or bolts in the heel part Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 12, 1913.

Patented June 16, 1914.

Serial No. 747,940.

and a heavy pin in the forepart, and occupying a considerable portion of the depth of the last from top to bottom (as shown, for instance, in Patent No. 764;,89el, July 11, 190%), I provide a relatively narrow slender plate or tongue 7 extending integrally from the last thimble S, which is mounted over an E. ll". bolt 9, having its opposite holding heads or flanges 10, and I secure this as explained in the first mentioned patents above, and I provide a similar bolt construction at 11, 12 through the wider portion of the tongue or plate 7. The lower front end of the tongue or plate 7 is secured by a steel pin 13, which acts as a pintle. In constructing the last the one piece thimble and plate and the bolts 9 and 11 are put in place with the plate and thimble projecting a short distance above the last, as indicated by the dotted line 14. Heavy pressure is then applied so as to force them down to their normal position, as shown in full lines in the drawing, and the pintle pin 13 is then passed through the hinged plate or tongue 7.

From the above description, it will be seen that the integral thimble and tongue are not only comparatively light, but are held in place by the two truss members or tension bolts 9 and 11, so as to bind the sides of the last together and hold the wood under more or less compression, and the breaking strain on the joint is resisted by the jack spindle which always occupies the thimble when said breaking strains are applied. by the leveling machine, or the like, said strain being also resisted by the cooperating bolts 9 and 11. Moreover, the three resisting points 9, 11 and 13 are out of line with each other so as to get the greatest purchase on the wood and avoid to the best advantage any tendency of splitting the wood (whose grain, as is well known, always runs lengthwise of the last). I am aware that it has heretofore been proposed (in connection with an entirely different last construction) to have an integral thimble and hinge plate. I am also aware of the first mentioned E. C. patents, and also of the knuckle joint patents (such, for instance, as the 1904 patent), and it will be understood that I do not intend to claim any construction but only that specifically employed in a two-piece last as defined in the following claim.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

A hinged last comprising a heel part and a forepart, an integral thiinble and relatively narrow tongue mounted rigidly in a socket in the heel part, said tongue extending substantially throughout the length of the thimble and extending above the top of the cone of the last, and extending forwardly into the forepart, a pintle pin in the wood of the forepart on which the for- Ward end of said tongue is mounted to turn, and two compression members in the heel part, each in the form of headed bolts held under tension, one of said bolts passing through the tongue and the heel part, and the other bolt passing through the heel part and in supporting relation to the thiinble, the compression of said bolt in the tongue being elieeted through the extension of said tongue abme the cone of the last.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence 01: two subscribing witnesses.

ELLERY (l. VVRIGH'I.

itnesses EDWARD lvlAxwnLL, R. J. Hnnsnr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

